The Formula One World Championship has a new U.S. broadcaster: technology giant Apple will exclusively cover the next five F1 seasons through a deal reportedly worth $700 million in total.
This agreement marks Apple’s most significant acquisition of sports broadcasting rights to date and will allow the Apple TV streaming service to begin showing F1 events in the U.S. from the 2026 season, with the contract extending through the 2030 campaign.
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Apple will provide F1 coverage to Apple TV subscribers, granting all customers access to live broadcasts of every on-track F1 session, as well as all content produced by F1 TV’s in-house production team.
This includes all free practice, qualifying, and sprint sessions, along with every Grand Prix over the next five seasons. Select races and all free practice sessions throughout the season will also be available for free in the Apple TV app.
F1 TV Premium, F1’s premier content offering, will remain available in the U.S. market, but only through an Apple TV subscription, after which it will be free for subscribers.
Additionally, Apple has stated that it will “amplify the sport” across its News, Maps, Music, Sports, and Fitness+ sub-brands.
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By GlobalDataIn terms of other major sports rights contracts in the U.S., Apple also covers Major League Soccer (MLS), holding nearly exclusive domestic rights through the end of the 2028–29 season (following a revised media rights deal), as well as Friday night games from Major League Baseball (MLB) under an agreement covering the 2023–28 cycle.
Partnership Represents a Significant Value Increase Over the Previous Deal
Apple’s acquisition signifies a substantial financial uplift for the championship compared to the previous rights deal. According to media reports, Apple is paying $700 million for the five-year term, which amounts to $140 million per year. Apple replaces Disney, the owner of the broadcast network ABC and sports network ESPN, as the F1 broadcaster in the U.S.
Disney had been paying $85 million annually for the rights after securing a three-year extension in late 2022 to cover the 2023–25 cycle. This deal concludes an eight-year relationship with Disney that began in 2018 and reflects remarkable growth.
ESPN did not pay any rights fees in 2018 when NBC Sports dropped F1 after five seasons, as NBC chose not to compete with F1’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, F1 TV, which was set to launch the following year.
Table 1: Formula 1 rights cycle and value in the U.S.
| RIGHTS CYCLE | BROADCASTER | YEARS | TOTAL VALUE ($m) | ANNUAL VALUE ($m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 to 2030 | Apple | 5 | 700 | 140 |
| 2023 to 2025 | Disney | 3 | 255 | 85 |
| 2020 to 2022 | Disney | 3 | 15 | 5 |
| 2018 to 2019 | Disney | 2 | 5¹ | 5¹ |
| 2017 | NBCUniversal | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2013 to 2016 | NBCUniversal | 4 | 12 | 3 |
¹ ESPN did not pay any rights fees in 2018. ESPN paid $5 million in 2019.
F1’s Investment in the U.S. Has Paid Off
F1 and Liberty Media, which has owned F1 since 2017, have made significant investments in growth strategies focused on the U.S. market.
The U.S. now hosts three annual races: Miami in early May, Austin in late October, and Las Vegas in mid-November. The United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, which debuted in 2012, has been joined by races in major destination cities: the Miami Grand Prix in 2022 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023.
For 2024, Las Vegas Grand Prix organizers reported that the race generated $934 million in revenue; Visit Austin reported a direct economic impact of over $480 million for the race weekend; and recent estimates suggest that the Miami Grand Prix brings an economic benefit of around $500 million to the region.
The only American-licensed F1 team, Haas F1, which debuted in the 2016 season, will be joined on the grid by a second U.S.-owned F1 team, Cadillac F1, backed by U.S. car manufacturer General Motors, in 2026.
F1 partnered with global streaming platform Netflix to produce the original docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which has been airing on the service since 2019.
The series is widely credited with significantly boosting F1’s popularity in the U.S. by making the sport more accessible through behind-the-scenes narratives and human-interest stories. “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” will continue despite the live U.S. rights moving to a streaming rival and will not be affected in terms of upcoming seasons.
Furthermore, Apple’s original content studio has already produced “F1: The Movie,” which was released in cinemas in June and is set to debut on Apple TV for streaming in mid-December. That production grossed over $628 million worldwide, according to movie data provider IMDb.
F1 Attracting Record TV Audiences in the U.S.
Coverage of the 2024 United States Grand Prix broke viewership records in the race’s home market. The live broadcast attracted the largest domestic audience on record, with an average of 1.5 million viewers tuning in for the race-only portion of the telecast provided by U.S. broadcast partner ABC.
Leading up to the United States Grand Prix, of the 19 F1 races held in the 2025 season, 17 experienced year-on-year audience growth, according to ESPN, ABC’s sister broadcaster. Additionally, 12 of those 17 races drew record audiences for ESPN/ABC. These records were set during ESPN and ABC’s final season as F1 broadcast partners in the U.S.
Summary
The partnership with Apple marks a transformative phase for F1, with significant financial benefits and enhanced content distribution.
F1’s strategic investments in the U.S. market are yielding positive results, evidenced by an increase in media rights, record viewership and economic impacts from races.
Future growth will depend on effectively navigating the transition to Apple and maintaining audience engagement amidst increasing competition.
